Fractal Continuity
by ThePenIsNOTMightier
Summary: The semester at Beacon has begun and teams have been assigned. However, a surprise is in store for our Hunters in Training when two guests appear in the gardens with abilities that can rival the fabled Maidens of the Seasons. When magic and cross-dimensional summoning go wrong, how will Ruby and her team react to meeting...well...Ruby. I do not own RWBY or its characters.
1. Prologue

Headmaster Ozpin was usually a very busy man. Between running Vale's most prestigious Huntsman Academy and being one of the leading political figures in the kingdom, he really did not have all that much time on his hands. So with the new year's initiation completed earlier that day, he was currently taking advantage of his limited free time by taking a stroll through the gardens in the evening light.

It was the start of fall and all the flowers were still in bloom. They would only remain this beautiful for maybe a week before the colder weather would take its toll. It was fitting. The new and innocent students would learn soon that the road they have chosen is not easy. It is cold and unforgiving. He only hoped that all of them would make it through to bloom again at the end of the year, both students and flowers.

The gentle smile he had been wearing melted away as suddenly the wind picked up. Glancing around, Ozpin only had a moment to prepare himself for a potential threat when a burst of light erupted from one pathway over. Turning himself to face the disturbance, he was immediately put on edge when a Alpha Beowolf, a young faunus and a young man came barreling out of a small ripple in the air before catching themselves and landing on their feet. Ozpin's grip on his cane tightened as he prepared to end the things existence, when he heard the boy begin a quick chant.

He was stunned when a glyph, a semblance unique to the Schnee lineage, came to life just in front of the young man's outstretched hand, glowing a soft yellow as it spun. The Beowolf made a lunge for the boy, however the girl intercepted it with a feral roar as her leg crashed into the Grimm, knocking it to the side. As the Grimm righted itself, the boy finished his chant with a loud shout as the glyph's purpose was revealed.

"INFERNO SPIRAL!"

With the young man's declaration came a torrent of fire, spiraling out of the glyph at rapid speeds and consuming the Alpha Beowolf. Eyes widening in surprise, Ozpin watched as the Beowolf was incinerated. It hadn't even had time to release a whine of pain, becoming ash in the wind within a second. The fire then continued onward, leaving whatever plants were in its path decimated in its wake, before impacting the side of the school. When the glow of the flames finally died, the true power of the fire became clear. The stone exterior of the building had been melted. The molten rock slowly cooling as it pooled near the base of the wall. Thankfully, only the first few inches of the wall had melted, but the damage was still impressive.

Ozpin could only stare at the destruction, to stunned by the abruptness of it all to know just how he wanted to react yet. However he was snapped out of his slight stupor when the two new arrivals began talking.

"Master, perhaps using fire spells in the college gardens was not the best way to take care of the beast." the young woman said. Now having a moment to actually look at the two new people he noticed she was a cat faunus. Her hair was a pure black, pulled back in a low ponytail with her bangs loose and wild. She had bright amber eyes, very much resembling the first year Blake Belladonna. In fact, she could have been her twin had Ozpin not known better. However her outfit was completely different.

She wore a light white blouse with a black long coat over it, with tight black pants that ended just past her knees, leading into greaves comprised of pitch black metal and black leather. Her arms were bare beyond her elbows, revealing what appeared to be some sort of mark branded onto her left wrist. Around her neck was a black ribbon, the bow tied in the back with a small silver bell suspended in the front, lightly chiming with her movements.

"Yeah…" the young man agreed, "probably should have thought that through a little more. But hey, at least the thing's dead." The boy was somewhat short, wearing what appeared to be some kind of black and red monks robe, with red dyed leather bracers and greaves. His black pants had numerous pockets along the sides and his belt had a few vials and flasks strapped along it. Across his shoulders he wore a thick black cloak, scaled with what appeared to be small scale plates made of a red colored metal, which hung all the way down to the ground. Despite the slight breeze, the cloak showed next to no signs of movement from the wind. The hood was currently drawn up, obscuring his features from view. If Ozpin had to guess, the young man was probably slightly younger that his first years, with perhaps the exception of Ms. Rose.

"True, but now you have to explain the the headmaster not only why you were casting a summoning unsupervised, but also what you were fighting to have done this much damage." she responded with a scowl, motioning towards the trench of destruction the small hurricane of fire had created. The young man let out a resigned sigh as he turned to face the destruction. Then he smirked.

"Only if the old man finds out." He stated with a grin. Taking a wide stand with his palms extended towards the charred earth and vegetation, he began to chant once again. As he did, a green glyph sprang to life beneath him, slowly oscillating, as his chant progressed. Feeling the need to intervene before more damage is dealt to his school, Ozpin took a quick step forward before stopping as once again he witnesses something truly surprising.

The flowers and bushes that were destroyed by the fire faded from charred black to a healthy green as they slowly but surely begin growing back! This level of Dust manipulation was completely unheard of. Ozpin watched in awe, behind a mask of only slight surprise, as the garden slowly returned to its former beauty. However his time as merely an observer had finally come to an end. The faunus had heard his foot tap against the stone pathway and turned, eyes widening as she saw him.

Instead of responding with suspicion or hostility however, she gave as small squeak in surprise.

"Pst… Master," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, never taking her eyes off him.

"Just a few more seconds Bell." the boy replied, still focused on his task.

"Seriously Master turn around!" the girl, Bell, shouted this time. Still not facing away from him.

"What?-" The boy questioned, turning to face her. Following her line of sight, he found himself looking at Ozpin.

"…oh," the boy said nervously, immediately abandoning his current task and spinning to face him. "Hey there headmaster." The boy said nervously.

This finally brought Ozpin out of his stunned state completely. Turning his head to the boy he simply stares at him.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" the boy asks, a nervous chuckle following the question.

"Yes I would say that you are." Ozpin replied, pausing to take a sip out of his mug. "However before we get to that, I believe there are some questions that are in need of answers."

"Alright fine.." the boy immediately concedes, looking at the ground. And then, much to Ozpin's surprise, begins rambling. "I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you. I thought that I could easily subjugate a Black Heart so I went ahead and summoned one. I know you said that it would be awhile before I could control it but that's why I went with the Lycan type rather than the more dangerous ones. Anyway, it turns out that I wasn't quite up to snuff on my Psyconis spells and couldn't quite bring the thing to heel. So I had Bell with me as a precaution. We managed to kill it, at the cost of some of the school's flowers, and I am REALLY sorry so can I finish fixing the flowers and NOT have to be Professor Oobleck's test subject...again…?"

Ozpin honestly had no idea how to respond to most of this. Many of the terms the young man was using were foreign. He had never heard the term Black Heart or Lycan to describe a creature of Grimm, and had no clue how one would even go about summoning one let alone controlling it. Yet this boy seemed well aware of him and even treated him as if he were one of his teachers. He also seemed to know Bartholomew, which only brought about even more confusion.

"As interesting as that is. You still have not answered the main question that I wanted to ask." Ozpin replied. Giving a rather stern glare to the two, both of whom shrunk back a bit.

"Who are you two and what are you doing at my Academy? You aren't students, or at least ones that I recognize."

This seemed to catch both of them off guard. "Headmaster? What are you talking about?!" Bell asked, eyes wide.

"I have never met either of you before." Ozpin responded curtly, taking another sip from his mug.

"Oz, come on, you personally picked me to come here." the boy said hesitantly.

"Yet I have no recollection of this." Ozpin refuted.

Reaching up and pulling back his hood, the boy looked back at him. He was clearly no more than maybe 15 years old. His face was narrow and he was rather pale. His hair was a dark black however the tips fade into a deep crimson. His bangs came down partially over his eyes and the rest of his hair was bound in a wolftail behind his head. However, his most off putting and distinct feature was without a doubt the bright silver eyes that now stared back at him.

"Professor Ozpin it's me, Ruby, Rubeus Raven Rose."


	2. Chapter 1

This was either horribly foreboding or a really stupid practical joke.

This was the first thought that ran through Ozpin's head. While the young man standing before him had a very uncanny resemblance to Ruby Rose, the possibility of this being Ruby was zero. For one he was definitely taller, if only by an inch, which was noticeable despite very thin build and small frame. His voice was also too low, and sounded far to natural to be fake.

However, what truly cast doubt on the idea of a farce were the bright silver eyes Oz found himself staring at. Silver Eyes were an unbelievably rare trait. As far as he was aware, the only living people he had ever known to possess them were Summer and Ruby, yet here was another person showing this very distinct characteristic. While contacts were doubtlessly an option, there were subtle changes to the shape or color that were distinct. The lad had none of that, clearly showing that his eyes were un-obscured and genuine. What made this all the more confusing was that the more he looked, the more of both Summer and Taiyang he could see in the boy.

This presented numerous problems. Ozpin had far more than just his Academy to worry about. His comrades could not afford to have an infiltrator on the school grounds. However the two before him seemed to hold none of the tension or suspicion usually displayed by those with ulterior motives. He needed answers, and while he doubted they would just outright tell him anything, perhaps they might let something slip during a conversation.

"While I do indeed remember personally inviting a Ruby Rose to attend Beacon, I distinctly remember her as being just that, a HER." Ozpin stated, his calm demeanor taking over despite the inner confusion.

"You're kidding right?" Rubeus asked, cocking an eyebrow, "wait, is this for that whole 'old man' comment, because that was a joke."

"I am very serious right now." replied Ozpin, taking another sip from his hot cocoa. "Ms. Rose was recruited after aiding in the apprehension of a few criminals robbing a Dust shop in the city."

"Dust? Who the hell would want to steal dust?" the boy asked, annoyance and confusion creeping into his voice. "And for that matter, who would want to sell it? dead skin cells and bacteria are not exactly on your average shopping list."

"I am not talking of your common dust, of course, but of crystallized energy propellant."

The look of genuine confusion that was on both Ruby and Bell's faces was more than enough to cement Ozpin's theory that he did not have all the facts to go on. He decided that it may be better to acquire more information in a more isolated area, with another faculty member present to root out the lies from the truth, and as possible back up should the two before him show hostile intentions.

"Perhaps we can retire to my office and sort this all out? It is getting rather late." Ozpin suggested, motioning at the rising moon.

"I suppose we cou-" Ruby froze as he turn and looked up at the moon. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE MOON!" He exclaimed.

At the outburst, Bell too turned her gaze to the sky only for her mouth to drop open and her eyes to widen in shock.

Remnant's moon had been fractured for some time now. Many generations had passed since that even. There was absolutely no possible way that these two had not noticed until now. No, if this were a ploy by a spy or otherwise, this was an incredibly amateur and moronic play to make. Something else was going on.

"Bell, are you seeing this too or am I veiled?" The boy asked his companion.

"No, I am seeing the same thing. Unless the it is a mass manipulation spell, that is real." was her quiet response.

"And just like me, you remember seeing it whole while doing my Astronomy homework last night right?" He queried again, turning his gaze back to the sky.

"Yes I do Master." The faunus responded, turning to look back at her companion.

The boy lowered his gaze to stare straight ahead, but his eyes were unfocused. He then glanced around, for the first time truly taking in his surroundings. They scanned the various plants, The outer garden walls, the damaged wall. They stopped for a moment as he gazed at the electric lamps that lit the school grounds before turning back to Ozpin. He could see the young man look him over, as he scrutinized every detail.

"Bell, eyes up. I need to check something" the young man said after a moment, pulling his hood back on and backing away a few paces. The girl immediately responded, placing herself between him and Ozpin, her whole body becoming tense and the small mark on her wrist glowing a faint purple. Her eyes bore straight into his, watching for even the slightest hint of aggression.

"Calm down," Ozpin tried, relaxing his stance a bit, "I am sure we can figure this out."

The boy held his hand up, but not in Ozpin's direction, rather to his side. A small blue glyph appeared in front of his hand again, putting Ozpin on edge. The caution turned out to be unnecessary however, when three large tomes materialized out of the glyph and floated around the young man. The thickest of the three books came to rest in the air in front of Rubeus. It opened of its own accord and turned through pages before coming to rest towards the end of the book. Despite his hood being drawn up and obscuring his eyes, the young man still appeared to be reading. During this whole thing, the girl had yet to relax. Her stance was not rigid, but clearly well practiced. Her legs spread and slightly bent, one foot in front of the other. One arm forward while the other found its way to her thigh. At this point Ozpin noticed the set of long metal needles strapped there, mostly hidden by the long coat. Her whole body gave off the impression of a coiled spring, waiting for release.

Ozpin had adopted a wait and see approach by this point. The two had shown no true sign of hostility until just now and even that seem to sprout more from suspicion than from animosity. There was nothing he could do except hope for a peaceful outcome. After all, fighting would spill his cocoa.

After finishing with the first book, and then the second, the young man opened the third and scanned the page before sighing.

"Stand down Bell."

The girl relaxed, the building tension dissipating. She backed up and the boy stepped forward again. "You are Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon College of Magecraft are you not?"

"No, I am the current headmaster of Beacon Academy for Huntsmen and Huntresses." Ozpin replied calmly.

This response caused the boy to swear under his breath, his right fist clenching. He turned to the girl. "Bell, I think we were pulled back with my Summoned." While her eyes widened slightly in realization she gave no other outward show of emotion. The boy then turned back to address Oz.

"I apologize for the confusion. I was not aware of what was going on yet." The boy said with a small bow, only his mouth and nose visible beneath the hood. "If we could head to your office now, I will try my best to answer any questions and explain how we came to be here."

"Lovely," replied Ozpin. Relaxing his stance completely He turned away from the two and began walking. Looking over his shoulder he saw they were both following, the boy in front of the girl.

"It sounds like you have quite the story to tell young Rubeus. If you don't mind, I have someone else who I wish to be present. Would this be acceptable?"

The boy hesitated, before giving him a nod.

"Then while we wait for her in my office would you like some hot cocoa? I find it can help one relax." Ozpin inquired with a small smile.

The young boy looked over his shoulder at the girl before turning back to face him.

"If we could have two, that would be wonderful." he replied, wearing a small smile of his own.

* * *

Ozpin found himself staring down at his desk, his fingers laced together with his forehead resting against them. The story told by the two had been, unbelievable. Magic. A common practice in their home dimension. The thought of a second dimension all together was outlandish enough, let alone the thought of someone crossing into theirs. This would require time and study. After telling them their tale, he had offered the two arrivals lodging, if only temporarily. It would keep them close enough to keep an eye on them.

"If I were not so adapt at telling truth from lies, I would say that entire story was nothing more than a fabrication."

The woman who spoke was one of his teachers, Professor Glynda Goodwitch. She was leaning against the side of his desk looking back at him, her expressing critical. Her green eyes giving off a sharp glint behind her glasses. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun with a single curl hanging on the right side of her face.

"Then they were telling the truth?" Ozpin inquired, not looking to her.

"They firmly believed every word they said. Of that I have no doubt." She responded curtly. "But this is impossible. Accidentally jumping from a separate plane of existence is ludicrous."

"And yet two people and an Alpha Beowolf appeared out of thin air in the middle of what is probably the most secure location in all of Vale with absolutely no warning, and one of them managed to use what could only have been Dust manipulation, without any Dust on his person."

"That we know of." She refuted quickly. "And, may I remind you, that same person is claiming to be Ms. Rose, whom surveillance footage has shown has not left her new team's assigned room this evening." At this she stood up and turned to face him. "How can you actually be considering their story? That they arrived here by accident because of amateur spellwork?" She seemed hesitant to use the term 'spellwork'.

At this point Ozpin stood up and walked around the desk, "Because Mr. Rose's abilities are far too similar to another set of abilities we have seen to discount much of what they say." He turned his head to look at Glynda, "He can conjure fire without a power source, he can regrow dead flora in seconds. He has even shown to be able to use this ability to store and recall objects. While the last one may be new, the first two we have both seen before." He responded, his expression becoming very serious. Glynda seemed to back down after that.

"For now we keep them close and keep an eye on them." He continued. "If they become a threat, I have no doubt that you and the rest of the staff could handle the two. They boy may prove difficult however the girl has shown no signs of the same ability. If they turn out to be two lost souls stuck in a new world, then we will do what we can to help them live here."

"So you intend to make them students?" Glynda inquired, seeming to have followed Opzin's train of thought.

"Not without a test first. It would be unfair to the rest of the students if they did not have to go through some sort of initiation." Ozpin replied, taking a sip from his ever-present mug of cocoa to hide his small grin.

Glynda gave a sigh, "They wouldn't have a team. All of the new students are partnered. Plus, how are we going to deal with the girl's...circumstances?"

At that Ozpin paused. That was going to be interesting. Slavery was not exactly legal in Vale, or any of the other kingdoms for that matter. Yet now there was an irrevocable condition binding the young Aurora Bell to the service of Mr. Rose. It made him shudder to think what kind of world those two had been living in where owning another was commonplace. While the two dimensional Sliders had told them this, they had not gone into detail about how it had come about. On top of that, the girl seemed genuinely happy to serve the boy, and when they were told they she may need to be set free to avoid problems, she had actually look terrified.

"We will have to ask that she be treated as an equal by Mr. Rose, as well as they she not refer to him as her owner in public. Though given their interactions thus far, I would say we may not need to worry about that. It will eventually come to light within the student body, but for now we keep it quiet until a favorable solution presents itself." Ozpin decided.

"Very well, but that still does not solve the matter of a team." Glynda reminded him.

* * *

Bell had just finished cleaning herself up after the day. Once again dressed in her white blouse and black pants, she made her way out of the bathroom attached to the small room that her and her companion had been given for the time being. It was one of the unused teachers quarters, offering what was essentially a small apartment with all of the basic amenities. A second bed had been brought in by Warlock...Professor Port and placed next to the other one currently situated in the corner of the room. She had her long coat laying out on small couch next to Rubeus, who was currently intently reading another of his tomes. Four more were lazily listing through the air around him, all open to pages containing various information. Having never learned to read ancient Mistralian back home, Bell could only provide her master company as he did his research.

Ruby had removed his cloak, which was currently in a heap on the floor next to a broken wall hook that had been unable to support the weight of the article of clothing. His hair was no longer tied back and hung loosely round his head, coming down to his shoulders. His gauntlets and potion belt were resting on the nightstand next to his bed while his greaves were sitting next to hers between the two beds.

Ruby suddenly slammed the tome closed and let out an aggravated sigh. "I was afraid of that..." he said in a low tone.

"You don't sound very optimistic Master." Bell states, sitting down next to him after pushing one of the tomes out of the way.

"Our situation is incredibly unique Bell. No one has ever been able to jump dimensions with a Summoned before. This is completely unheard of."

Ruby stood up and held a hand out, calling forth the small blue glyph once again and willing the large books to return to it once again. Once they were all within his personal subspace, he turned to face her. "The simple fact is that it requires too much power. I cannot output enough Mana in a single go to pull three beings through the Liminal Barrier. I had to supplement my own Mana with a pre-filled Reliquary just to be able to pull the Black Heart to the gardens." He stated motioning to a very ornate pendant hanging from his neck. It was rather large, looking much like a silver cross with wings unfurling from the base up and behind both arms. The center containing a large black jewel.

"And yet here we are." Bell reminded calmly. She may not have been trained in magic, mostly because after she lost her freedom she was not allowed to, but even she knew how far from the norm their current predicament was.

"I know and I can't figure out why!" Ruby practically yelled. "It makes no sense. Dimensional links and barriers are very solid things, requiring an immense amount of power to even temporarily circumvent them. Summoning is the only type of magic that can do it and even then that requires a constant flow of Mana from the caster or the Summoned simply snaps back to its own dimension. We are not in our original dimension and have not been pumping Mana into any sort of spell to keep us here. We should have been thrown back home by the Liminal Barrier."

"Why couldn't you just recharge the Reliquary and eventually try and drag us back again by summoning something from our own world?" Bell queried.

"Because not only do I not know the how to refill a Reliquary right now, I don't know exactly what circumstances brought us here to begin with." Ruby responded in a clipped tone. Bell winced, feeling her brand burn as her master's anger grew. Seeing this, Ruby's anger died out.

"Sorry Bell, still getting used to that."

Bell looked at him with a smile, "It's fine Master."

Ruby sighed, "You know you can just call me Rubeus or Ruby when it's just us right? I hate that word 'Master', like you're beneath me. You're a person too."

Bell immediately looked away from Ruby, a sad look on her face. "The Council seems to disagree."

"Well the Council can go to hell." Ruby replied. "Besides, Ozpin said it might be best if it did not get out that you were a servant while we are here."

"True, but considering we do not know if the views on Changlings are any different here, I'm not sure I am comfortable being so casual."

"Bell, they can't touch you even if you are disrespectful, you know that." Ruby said, rolling his eyes.

"Then I shall call you Ruby from now on." She replied with a bow.

Ruby gave a resigned sigh. He knew getting her to stop calling him her master was a simple as commanding her to do so, however he doubted he could get her to behave in a more casual way any time soon. Oh well, baby steps.

"Back to the matter at hand," Ruby said, walking over to his bed and lying down. "While I'm betting one of the books I have would teach me to refill the Reliquary, their is also the problem of staying on the other side."

"What do you mean?" Bell asked.

"Simply put, something is anchoring us here." Ruby explained. "Either someone else is using their Mana to keep us in the plane, or I somehow put enough Mana into my Summoned to shatter our link to our own world. If the first is true, even if we got back it would be quite the fight just to stay there. If the second is true then we would need just as much Mana when we jump back to re-assert ourselves into our home dimension."

"So we're stuck here." Bell stated, retiring to her own bed, her tone sad.

Ruby looked over at Bell before turning off the lights with a wave of his hand. "From what I can tell... Yes."

* * *

Ruby had had quite the day. She had been thrown off a cliff, paired with an heiress for the rest of her time at Beacon, killed a giant Nevermore, and been made a team leader despite being two years younger than all of her teammates. Now she was lying awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. This had not been how she had thought her first real day at Beacon would go.

Suddenly her scroll let out a quiet chime, signaling that she had received a message. Quietly getting down from the top bunk of her bed, she crept over to her scroll and checked who it was from. Looking at the small screen in confusion she could only wonder what Headmaster Ozpin would be messaging her about so late at night.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **And there you have it, chapter 1.**

 **Sorry it took so long to get this done. Between getting a job and switching computers, my life has been rather interesting as of late.**

 **Anyway, we now get a bit more insight into the mysterious new arrivals, as well as bits of information on how magic works.**

 **I am always up for suggestions, advice, ideas, and criticism, so do not forget to review. (This is my first story so please don't be too harsh.)**

 **Until next time!**

 **PEACE!**


	3. Chapter 2

Professor Port's class had been an interesting experience. Most of the class had dozed off during his "lecture" as he told a heavily embellished story from his youth. However he had then brought out a live Grimm for one of the class to face. Weiss had volunteered, initially struggling and turning her frustration on Ruby, who had so far been nothing short of infuriating. She was sporadic at best, easily distracted and was a complete airhead. Weiss however, had a modicum of patience and decided to see if her leader would show more initiative in another class. While she had been far beyond attentive in Goodwitch's combat class, she had not been as impressive in any other classes. After shouting her grievances at her young leader, she had stormed off and now found herself skulking around Beacon, trying to calm down. Weiss knew that she would have to meet up with her team soon regardless of her current frustrations. Her team had be requested by Headmaster Ozpin to meet in the combat classroom an hour after her classes. While she would head that direction after a bit, for now she needed to calm down. Her directionless walking currently brought her to the outside of the school's infirmary, when her thoughts interrupted by a sudden commotion from within.

"GET AWAY FROM ME DEMON!"

A loud boom echoed through the hallway as the door the the infirmary was blasted open from within. Before Weiss could react, she was knocked off her feet as a black and red projectile collided with her. She and the figure tumbled to the ground. After getting her bearings, she looked at the cloaked figure that had landed on top of her. His features were concealed beneath a black and red scaled cloak, which apparently weighed a ton! She tried to push him off with a shout only to meet far more weight than she was able to move! The boy push himself up and looked over his shoulder, facing away from her, towards the door. From within, a new person emerged.

"Quite bothersome, I understand that you are not exactly comfortable with this but we need another blood sample. Ozpin was rather insistent that we perform a full medical evaluation."

The rapid pace at which this was said could only make this one person, Professor Oobleck. He stood before them, wearing his round rimmed glasses and white collared shirt. His ever present thermos in his hands.

"Not going to happen!" the boy shouted before bringing his hand up. There was a momentary blue flash in his palm before he brought it down, slapping his hand on the tiled floor. Weiss's world went white as the whole passage was rapidly filled with an incredibly thick fog. Someone grabbed her wrist and began running. By this point, Weiss had completely lost track of what was going on, allowing herself to be pulled along as her mind tried to process these rather abrupt developments.

After a bit, she felt open air on her skin as she was lead outside. She had be pulled outside onto a balcony off the main school building. At this point she had had enough.

"Let go of me you brute!" She yelled, breaking her captor's grip.

The young man turned to face her, before stopping. His large hood still remained in place, covering his face, he appeared startled before his posture become a bit more relaxed.

"Oh, whoops." he said, "I grabbed you thinking you were someone else. Sorry."

"Well at least you had the decency to apologize." Weiss said with an agitated huff.

"Well what crawled up your ass and died?" the boy responded, putting one hand on his hip, his body language just screaming sarcasm.

"Well I never..." Weiss responded to his rude language but before she could continue, she was interrupted.

"I doubt I am the first to ask you that question." The boy responded flatly, a teasing grin visible beneath his hood.

"I don't have to take this." Weiss exclaimed, as she turned around. Before she could walk away however, the boy grabbed her arm.

"Hey, it was a joke, sorry." He said in a more mild tone as she turned back to him. "I didn't mean to offend you."

After a pause, Weiss sighed. "Whatever..."

The boy let go, his smile returning. "Right thanks," He said before holding out his hand, "Rubeus," he stated, introducing himself.

"Weiss" she replied, grasping his hand and giving a quick shake. She noticed him flinch a bit at her introduction, but dismissed it. Taking the time to actually look him over, he appeared to be about her age, if not a bit shorter. His face was still mostly obscured by the cloak he wore. Despite what she first saw, the cloak itself was actually black. All along the article of clothing were small metalic red plates, making the majority of its outer surface red in color. His clothes were simple, and a bit more traditional Mistrailian than most wore, but not too different from what other students wore for their combat gear. Tired of the silence, she asked, "So why exactly were you running from Professor Oobleck?"

Rubeus lost his smile, "He said that Ozpin had requested blood samples. I am not going to give those two more of my blood. They took enough as it was."

"You blew up the infirmary to avoid them taking blood samples?" She asked with mild amusement.

"I don't like needles..." She heard Rubeus mutter quietly. Whether from the abruptness of everything or the irrationality of the fear, she let out a small giggle.

Rubeus heard this, "It's a legitimate fear!" he defended. This escalated her giggling into full blown laughter. It was infectious, as Rubeus soon joined her, their laughter rolling across the campus. After about a minute, they both brought their mirth back under control. However, the events of the day quickly came back to Weiss, bringing a frown to her face.

"So what's bothering you princess?" Rubeus asked, moving over towards the gated railing that encompassed the balcony.

"It's Heiress actually." Weiss corrected automatically.

"Alright then, Heiress, what is bugging you? Any normal person doesn't go from laughing their ass off to brooding without something bothering them."

"What's it to you?" Weiss responded defensively.

"Nothing really, just want to help." The boy held his hands up. "I just find it easier to vent to someone you don't know sometimes. It gives you a fresh perspective."

"Well, if you must know, I am having problems with my assigned team." Weiss responded, crossing her arms.

"And those would be?" Rubeus motioned her to continue, turning back to look off the balcony again.

"Our leader is completely incompetent!" Weiss yelled. "She is immature, a total airhead, and has the most absurd set of priorities I have ever seen!"

Rubeus nodded, but said nothing, letting Weiss continue.

"She falls asleep in class, she doesn't try to keep her teammates in line, and she is far too young to even be here let alone leading a team! I should have been the leader. I could easily manage the responsibility!" Weiss raged.

"Sounds to me like you need to step back a bit." Rubeus said, turning to her once again.

"What?" Weiss asked confused.

"She is new to all of this,true, and sounds like she really doesn't know what she is doing." Rubeus said

"So you agree, then." Weiss said with a smug smile.

"Hardly," Rubeus said with a snort, surprising Weiss. "I think that YOU should calm down and get off your high horse."  
"How is this my problem?" Weiss yelled angrily.

"I look at you, and see someone who has probably had a silver spoon in her mouth since she was born." Rubeus said, once again looking out across the grounds. "From day one, you were taught you were better, superior. That you always had to be perfect or the best."

At this, Weiss's expression softened just a bit.

"Well guess what, nobody's perfect." Rubeus said softly, looking down at the roof. "Everyone is different. Everyone has their own quirks, and true, some of those can be annoying as hell. But everyone still has something they excel at. Clearly Ozpin saw something in your leader that you haven't yet. Maybe you should stand back a bit and trust his judgement?"

"And if he is wrong?" Weiss refuted.

"Then he is, but it takes time to know that for sure." Rubeus replied, once again turning to face Weiss with a gentle smile visible. "Give your team some time to try and improve. I mean, that is what you are all here for right? For now, just be the best YOU can be, both in and out of classes. In my opinion, that's the best you can do."

Before Weiss could come up with a response the door to the balcony opened once again as Professor Oobleck stepped out.

"Mr. Rose, I am afraid that if you don't come with me willingly, I will have to use force."

"Sorrygottagobye!" Rubeus quickly said to Weiss before vaulting over the railing and disappearing beyond the roof's edge..

"Come back here this INSTANT!" Oobleck shouted, following Rubeus off the roof.

Weiss was left alone on the balcony with her thoughts. After a bit, a small smile could be seen on her lips as she turned to head back inside. As she opened the door however, she paused. Did Oobleck say "Mr. Rose?"

* * *

Headmaster Ozpin was currently standing next to the arena in the combat classroom with Glynda Goodwitch. The R B and Y of RWBY were sitting over on the bleachers, a short ways away. Oz noticed the slightly depressed mood that seemed to float around the team, particularly Ms. Rose, however it was not his place to step in for problems that may be nothing more than a simple spat. So instead he focused on his cup of cocoa as he waited for the others to arrive. Ozpin was a rather patient man. Most of his younger days were spent constantly moving, always doing something. Those times had left him with an appreciation for patience. His younger colleague however, did not possess such a view.

"Where are they? Oobleck said he would retrieve Rubeus almost an hour ago!" Glynda hissed at him, quietly enough that the gathered members of team RWBY could not hear.

"And I warned you NOT try and draw blood with a syringe." Bell said from his side, an amused smirk on her lips. Aurora had been with him most of the day, giving him a general overview of their world's culture. To say that it was barbaric would be an understatement. That was not currently relevant to the situation however.

"I believe we are still waiting on one member of team RWBY as well, so regardless we cannot begin the briefing."

As he finished this the far door opened and Weiss walked through. With her arrival, Glynda gave Ozpin a pointed look, prompting a sigh. He would give the team a minute to catch up, as currently Weiss and Ruby seemed to be discussing something of some importance. After the conversation concluded, every member of the team seemed to be in a much better mood. Taking this as his cue, Oz walked over to the team.

"So, gonna tell us why we're here teach?" Yang Xio Long asked, looking between Ozpin and Glynda.

"Indeed," Ozpin began. "Yesterday at approximately 10:34pm, we received two new applicants to our academy."  
This made all of the members of RWBY more attentive.

"While under normal circumstances, we would have them wait until next year, the current situation won't really allow for that."

"So are you changing our team?" Ruby asked nervously. At this Ozpin chuckled.

"Hardly"

Glynda took over at this point. "For some time it has been established that a team of four is the optimal number to allow for the best level of efficiency and cooperation out in the field. No studies done have managed to disprove this. However at times a Hunter team needs backup from another team or the military, and must engage the enemy under less than optimal conditions while they wait for backup. We are proposing a reinforcement group to be attached to preselected teams that will allow for better first response in case of an emergency, as well as additional numbers during more difficult missions. Your team has been selected as the first team to try this new system."

"As such, the two new applicants will be placed in the RWBY Reserve Unit." Ozpin finished, looking at the responses of each person on the team. Ruby seemed both excited and nervous, the prospect of becoming an elite team probably causing such. Weiss seemed accepting, simply understanding the basic logic of it all. Blake was difficult to read. She seemed indifferent, however there was a noticeable tension about her. Yang simply wore a large grin, and was doubtlessly excited.

"One of the two members is here," Glynda said, motioning for Bell to step forward. "This is Aurora Bell."

Bell approached the team. "Hello there, as Professor Goodwitch stated, I am Aurora Bell. It's nice to meet all of you." She said with a polite bow.

"Ms. Bell completed her initiation this morning, we are waiting for the other to arri-"  
As she said this the door was slammed open. In strode a very rugged looking Oobleck. His glasses were cracked and his hair was clearly singed. Most of his polo shirt had been burned away or ripped to shreds. Behind him, he was dragging a smaller figure by the collar of his robe.

"I have brought the requested individual Headmaster!" announced Oobleck as he pulled the young man behind him towards the group. As he said this an equally worn looking Peter Port followed him in, straining to carry a red and black bundle of cloth. As they came near, Oobleck laid the boy done gently, while Port unceremoniously dropped the bundle. It dropped like a bowling ball, and upon impact, cracked the floor tiles.

"You will have to forgive my tardiness but the boy was adamant on avoiding the physical. I was forced to bring in Peter's assistance when his strategy changed from flight to fight." Oobleck said, addressing Glynda and Ozpin.

"And what a battle it was!" Port chimed in enthusiastically. "He was quite formidable at first. His abilities are astounding! A true Huntsman! Truth be told, before he passed out, I thought he may have actually been trying to kill us!" He finished with a hardy laugh, what remained of his moustache bobbing with his mirth.

That comment wasn't missed by anyone, especially Ozpin. The boy was clearly powerful. Not just anyone could avoid two fully trained hunters for almost an hour, let alone nearly beat them both once they caught up with him. All of team RWBY were staring at the boy with wide eyes, while Bell just had a hand on her face while slowly shaking her head.

"Wait, our other reserve member is Rubeus?" asked Weiss.

"You know him?" Blake questioned her teammate.

"I talked to him just a little bit ago. He was running from Oobleck." She said, not looking away from the boy sprawled out on the ground. Finally getting to see his face, she was a bit startled by the striking similarity he had to her own team leader.

Ozpin just sighed before addressing Bell.

"Ms. Bell, do you think you could wake him while I brief team RWBY?"

With a nod Bell removed her hand from her face and went over to Rubeus. She began looking through the various vials on his belt.

"Since your team was selected for this new initiative, we wished to have you here for your new member's initiation. Due to time constraints, for both myself and Professor Goodwitch, Bell has already completed her's. Rubeus however will be going through his momentarily."

Looking over to Glynda, Ozpin continued.

"Since all of the artifacts were have already been removed from the Emerald Forest, it would be much faster to simply have him provide proof of his skill. Therefore, you will select one of you to be his entrance opponent."

This caused quite the reaction from Yang.

"I VOLUNTEER!" She shouted loudly as she sprung up to her feet.

Before any of the others could object a loud groan came from where Rubeus had lain. Bell was returning the stopper on a vial as she returned it to its place on his belt while helping Rubeus sit up. He slowly looked up at her with a groggy expression.

"Did anyone get the number of that cart?"

With a small chuckle and a slight smirk, Bell simply responded, "No, but you could asked these nice gentlemen." while motioning to Port and Oobleck.

Upon realizing who was standing nearby Rubeus seemed to become more alert. With a groan and a glare, he turned to look at Ozpin.

"Why did you send your attack dogs after me again?"

Ozpin simply met the glare with his usual expression. "I think that 'attack dog' would be an inappropriate descriptor for two of my teachers."

Rubeus broke the glare after a moment and sighed. "Whatever, so why did they drag me here?"

"Ruby, They wanted to introduce us to our new team today." Bell reminded him.

Remembering the message he had recieved on the magical glowing piece of glass Ozpin had given him last night, he turned back to the gathered group of students. "All girls...Just my luck." He thought to himself as he finally stood up and walked over to the group. Holding his hand out to address the standing blonde, he greeted her. "Ruby Rose, nice to meet you."

* * *

 **And there is the next chapter. Up next we actually get to see Rubeus in combat. Now I am sure there are some concerns after the chapter regarding how powerful he actually is considering it took both Oobleck AND Port to finally wear him down. Next chapter should put most of those to rest. We also see that although in the last chapters Rubeus has been rather mature, he is still 15 and thus still has some rather sporadic moments that we all know kids of that age are prone too. He is definitely more mature that Ruby is.**

 **Again, I have a life outside of games and writing and so this will be published rather slowly. I only have enough time between other obligations right now to write a few sentences, if that. So I apologize for the slow progress and for making you wait.**

 **I am still trying to get use to the longer bits of writing so the chapters are unfortunately short for now.**

 **Until then don't forget to review!**

 **See you all when the next chapter is done!**

 **PEACE!**


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